Moonlight
by Torre58
Summary: Pre-series. Shigure/Akito. Spoilers for the whole series.


_Dedicated to nimblnymph. I know you were in the mood for fluff, but I hope you enjoy this anyway._

_Thank you __Pellaaearien for the beta!_

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Seven-year-old Shigure was having a dream. He was at the playground with his cousins, shoveling sand into a plastic bucket. Hatori and Kureno were crouched near him, while Ayame stood under the shade of a tree, speaking excitedly to a servant. Shigure knew it was a dream because although it was mid afternoon and a dream sun was beating over the tops of their heads, they were surrounded by darkness. Other than that, the dream felt unusually real. Shigure could smell the earthy grain of the sand dust as he dumped another shovelful into the plastic bucket. He could hear the distant sounds of cars and birds. He could feel the gentle breeze coming down from the trees.

Shigure was telling Kureno a ghost story as he shoveled, passing it off as something that had really happened to him. Kureno blanched and started to shake with fright. Hatori, the spoilsport, reassured Kureno that the story was made up. Shigure wasn't too upset, since now that the farce was over, he was able to drop his false seriousness and start laughing. Hearing him, Ayame made his way to the group, but stopped abruptly. Shigure noticed this and looked his way. He was staring straight ahead into the darkness, wide eyed with awe. That's when Shigure felt it, a presence that was both majestic and familiar, giving him an emotion similar to the one he felt when he first saw the ocean. Out in the darkness there was a light. A warm white glow that started as small as a pompom that grew as it came closer. Shigure stood and waited, dropping the plastic shovel besides him, feeling as if he'd been waiting his whole life. He could feel the presence of his cousins behind him. They were standing, giving him reassurance he didn't need. This entity was nothing to be afraid of; he knew, because he had known it even before he was born. The light surrounded them now, and the park was gone, along with the breeze and smell of sand. Out of the light came the figure of a lady with ethereal beauty. Her hands reached out towards them, so fair they were almost indistinguishable from the whiteness around them.

"We will meet soon," whispered a gentle voice that seemed to float around him. Her jet black hair and white robes surrounded around her like the petals of a flower, and her eyes were as black as the night skies, stretching out into infinity and embracing him close forever.

Shigure woke and found he was in his bedroom that was slowly lighting with the new day. Immediately the presence was gone, and Shigure discovered an overwhelming ache in his heart. It was so intense that he started to cry salty tears that streamed down the side of his face and soaking up in the pillow by his ears. He reached out with his soul, searching for it, and held his breath when he found it; so unbearably faint, but it was near, a mixture of gentle calm and fierce power. It beckoned him and he needed to be near it. He pushed the comforter aside and crawled out of the futon. His sock-clad feet sunk slightly into the tatami mat as he made his way to the window to push the screen aside. The stars had faded, but the tiny moon still shone high up in the cloudless sky of twilight. Shigure could feel the cool spring morning seep through the glass. His bedroom looked over a lush garden with the long shadows of early morning. Behind the trees were white buildings trimmed with dark stained wood and topped with ash tiled roofs that slanted at dramatic angles, the same majestic design throughout the Sohma compound. He touched the cool, moist glass with his fingertips, reaching out to the presence. The morning birds sang their melody as they skipped through the grass in search for food, and the servants chatted in the distance. The dream voice echoed softly from his memory. "We will meet soon," it said before fading with the rising sun.

"I am waiting," Shigure answered back.


End file.
